Medium
by alien09
Summary: It was like they had traded one war for another / Sequel to Incitation. Set post-FN. Eventual M/A.
1. Chapter 1

Max didn't know _how _exactly she had put herself in this situation. One minute she had been telling everyone to stay and fight. The next, they had raised a flag proudly marking Terminal City as their so-called 'Freak Nation'.

Logan had held her hand, the latex chafing against her skin.

'Now look what you've gone and done,' he'd whispered under his breath, loud enough for her to hear.

Yeah, what indeed.

Because suddenly every transgenic in sight was looking to her to lead them, to try and make sense of what was happening outside the barbed wire fence they had found themselves holed up in. She didn't need to glance out the window to see the squad cars lined up outside, or the men in uniform patrolling with their semi-automatics. It had been three days since Seattle had laid siege to TC and already Max knew that time was running out. There were just too many transgenics and too supply for the demand. Food, medicine, water, electricity, ammunition, guns, grenades…the last part of that thought made her sigh.

It was like they had traded one war for another. At least, that was what it felt like to her.

Scowling down at the mound of paperwork gracing her small makeshift desk, Max decided that she needed a break. Stretch her legs and get some blood pumping. If there was one thing Max hated more than anything, it was being still for long periods of time. She knew Alec felt the same way because she had noticed on more than one occasion how he jiggled his knee or fidgeted with his fingers during briefings. It was weird, Max thought absently as she climbed to her feet, because she'd seen more than one cat simply curl up in a ball and lie there.

_Must be some screwed up Manticore thing_, she thought derisively to herself.

'**What's your designation?' Renfro demanded.**

'**You can kiss my transgenic **_**ass**_**,' Max told the blonde woman defiantly. She wasn't a barcode, not just a bunch of lines tattooed onto the back of her neck. She was **_**Max**_**. The tiny space became smaller as the two plates of metal pressed down and Max contorted her body, her neck straining as she folded her arms and legs into a better position.**

'**Leave her in there for a week,' she heard Renfro say before the metal doors had slid shut, plunging her into darkness.**

Shaking her head violently, Max sucked in a breath and told herself that she wasn't somewhere constrictive or dark.

'Hey Max,' Dix called and she looked up, sending a small smile towards the transhuman located in front of a bank of computers. With Logan's help they had managed to get servers and computers running. It provided a vital source of information of the ordinary world and Max was grateful for Eyes Only.

_When was the last time you spoke to Logan huh?_

Shoving the thought to the side almost as soon as it entered her head, Max walked over to where Dix was. Whatever the non-state of her relationship was with Logan, it could wait. There were a lot more important things to worry about than her love life. Or lack of it.

'Any luck?' She asked. Dix hacked away at the keyboard in front of him. Max saw streams of numbers flash onscreen, barely paying attention to the code. Dix had been attempting to hack through the city's firewall so that they could access the hover drones scattered throughout Seattle. Apparently it required more sophisticated hardware than they had on hand but Dix said he would make do.

'Maybe another couple of hours?' Dix answered. Max clapped him on the back.

'You know where Alec is?' She questioned, remembering the way the other transgenic had favoured his shoulder yesterday.

'He's at the gym I think,' Dix replied and Max rolled her eyes.

'Typical. You'd think the number of times he gets his ass shot, he'd make sure he's all healed up before doing anything stupid,' she muttered under her breath. Dix flashed her a grin as she headed off towards the small building located a few blocks down.

When she reached the gym Max wasn't surprised to see Alec sparring with Dalton. The kid had grown attached to the older man, even going so far as to shadow him around much to Alec's chagrin. Max, on the other hand, knew better.

After that day at the forest, she thought that her and Alec had become friends. Sure they still took each other's heads off but this time there wasn't any real malice behind their words. Max actually kind of looked forward to crossing swords with Alec. He usually gave as good as he got. After the siege at Jam Pony, Max had been grateful for a friendly face in a sea of unknowns.

'You've got to put your weight behind it. These guys aren't going to be selling you chocolate mint cookies,' Alec told Dalton. The teenager practically flew towards Alec with his next punch and Max noted the way Alec winced.

'You're actually giving pointers on how to kick your ass now?' Max called out. Both men paused and Max felt her stomach quiver slightly when Alec sent her a genuine smile. Dalton's eyes widened and he glanced over at Alec, as if he wasn't sure what to do in Max's presence.

'Don't worry man. You don't have to bow or scrape right now,' Alec assured him.

'Shut up,' Max grumbled, shoving his good shoulder lightly. 'Hey Dalton. How's Gem and Regina?' It still freaked Max out that Gem had named her daughter after Normal.

'Alright. Gina doesn't stop crying though,' Dalton informed her, wrinkling her nose. Swinging his gaze back and forth between the two, the lanky teen gave them both a mock salute before heading towards the exit.

'What the hell? Do I scare him or something?' Max asked, studying Dalton's back. Alec chuckled.

'He thinks you're an Amazonian princess.'

Max wrinkled her nose. 'You saying I look like a man or something?'

'You sure hit like one,' he retorted, reaching down to pick up the weights on the floor. Max pushed him away and snatched them up easily, fixing him with an irritated look.

'Did you forget you got shot idiot?' She bit out, spinning around to place the dumbbells along the rack against the wall.

'Oh, is _that _what that burning pain was?'

Max didn't deign that with a reply, running her fingers along the rusty metal. She heard Alec shift behind her, heard his footsteps before he was right there by her side.

'So why so serious?' His voice was low but light. Max allowed herself to glimpse him out of the corner of her eye, saw the way his dark blonde hair was falling into his eyes.

'You need a haircut,' she said.

'It's just the two of us Maxie,' Alec replied, undeterred. Max felt her fingers tighten against the sharp edge of the frame, felt the metal bite into her skin.

She wanted to tell him that she wasn't cut out to be a leader, that these people needed someone who actually knew what she was doing to give them some direction. Not a girl who had spent most of her life looking over her shoulder, looking out for herself.

'Nothing,' she finally admitted, voice quiet. 'Just been a long day, you know?'

'Yeah,' Alec said and there was no missing the skepticism in his voice. 'I have those reports from Mole we can go-'

A loud popping sound, a sound they were both far too familiar with, interrupted him. Max barely blinked before Alec blurred away from her line of sight, her legs following him without hesitation. Her pupils dilated and contracted, seeing the sector policeman with his gun raised up and his hand still on the trigger. There was a small knot of people starting to gather on their side of the fence.

'Shit,' she heard Alec curse when the smell of blood filled her nostrils. Her pace quickened and she pushed through two X6s, her breath stopping in her lungs when she saw the figure lying prone at their feet.

'Mole,' she whispered and saw Alec kneel beside the transhuman, press a finger to try and find a pulse.

'Get a medic. _Now_,' Max barked and one of the transgenics hurried off. The other stood rigidly by her side a few feet away, muscles tense.

_Just one war for another._


	2. Chapter 2

Max chewed on her bottom lip, pacing outside the doors that led to the makeshift operating theater they had cobbled together inside one of the main buildings. They had managed to find a transgenic who specialized in medicine, someone Manticore had designed to ensure the survival of whatever team they were attached to in high-risk operations, and Verna had taken to her newfound role of Chief with gusto. As soon as she had seen Mole with a hole in his shoulder, she had pushed Alec and Max aside and told them to give her the floor. Max had watched helplessly, Mole's blood still staining her fingertips, as Verna had placed the gruff transhuman onto a metal table and wheeled him away.

That had been three hours ago and still there was no word.

'Hey Little Fella,' Joshua's voice made Max halt in her tracks.

'Hey Joshua,' Max answered, feeling tired. Joshua laid a large hand on her shoulder, bending down slightly so that they were eye level.

'Medium Fella need you at Command.'

'Yeah. I figured,' Max breathed out. She glanced over her shoulder and felt Joshua squeeze it in reassurance.

'Will tell what happen to Mole. Don't worry. Go handle before FUBAR.'

'Okay. Yeah,' Max sighed, patting Josh's hand and reluctantly heading towards command. She squeezed her eyes shut, remembering what had happened after they had found Mole on the floor.

'**The **_**hell **_**did you shoot him for?' Max yelled, stepping over Alec and towards the Sector cop who still had his weapon trained on Mole. The instant he saw her move the muzzle swung towards her. She felt rather than saw Alec stiffen in warning and she gave a gentle flick of her hand to tell him to stand down, to let her handle this.**

'**He had a shotgun,' the guy finally said and Max saw a few of his friends exchange uneasy looks. **

'**You have a **_**semi **_**dumbass,' Max shot back, feeling her fists clench. This time there was no mistaking the sneer that painted over the man's features and it made Max sick to her stomach.**

'**Be thankful I didn't put more than one hole in that freak's body then.'**

It wasn't hard to spot the numerous X-series lining the streets, all of them staring at her. Max wasn't a fool. She knew that many of them still resented her for what she was, what she represented. Alec had mentioned it before, once or twice, about how the twins of those who had managed to escape had suffered through mental and physical re-indoctrination. Manticore was anything if not thorough and Max wouldn't have been surprised if the rest of the soldiers had been subjected to the same treatment.

_Why is it my fault that I managed to escape that hellhole? Not like life after Manticore was a sweet deal anyways. Whatever. Now ain't the time for this._

'Colonel Jackass is on the horn,' Dylan, a tall X-5 that had filtered into Seattle after the big reveal, said out of the corner of his mouth. With his shaggy brown hair and hunter green eyes, Dylan had formed some kind of weird friendship with Alec. Put them side by side, Max mused, and it wouldn't be hard to mistake them for brothers. While Alec was of a stockier build, Dylan was rangier.

_And boy did he have nice arms._

Max touched Alec on the shoulder, noting the way his jaw was flexing. There were still smears of blood on his shirt and Max nudged him gently aside so that she was positioned directly over the phone.

'-armed and dangerous. Officer Clay had no choice but to ensure the threat was effectively neutrailized,' Colonel Rumsfield was saying. Max felt her fists clench, saw some of the other transgenics huddled inside Command start to frown. Rumsfield had been put in charge of the siege and with the delicate task of negotiating with the freaks that had staked their own little piece of paradise in Seattle. Instead of sending someone like Clemente, who Max thought was at least able to see some kind of reason, they had cherry picked the most hard-nosed anti-transgenic within fifty miles and placed him squarely in their path.

'Mole was armed because we've got guys packing AK-47s and semi-automatics prowling the fence,' Max cut in and there was a brief pause as Rumsfield registered her voice. The other man also had a problem with women being a charge. Racist, chauvinistic bastard.

'Ah Ms Guevara,' Rumsfield addressed her, voice slick. 'I see you've finally taken the time out of your busy schedule to join us.'

'I want to talk to someone higher up the food chain,' Max demanded.

'We don't negotiate with terrorists,' Rumsfield replied.

Max felt herself blink slowly, digesting that little piece of information.

'_Terrorists_? You've got to be kiddin' me!' Alec mumbled.

'This isn't an ideological crusade _Colonel_,' Max finally said, tone flat and hard. 'All we want is to be left alone. We don't want any bloodshed. But Officer Clay's just painted a giant big bulls eye on every single guy you've got patrolling the fence. How hard do you think its gonna be for genetically empowered super-soldiers to knock you guys off one by one?'

'Is that a threat?' Rumsfield sounded heated.

'No it's a warning. You've got six hours,' Max said before ending the call.

'This is bullshit. I say we go out there and-' Dix started, the genuine rage colouring his words startling Max a bit.

'What? We start shooting and then they start shooting back? And what happens in the end then huh?' Max interjected, planting her hands on her hips. She glanced at Alec out of the corner of her eye but the other X5 was looking straight ahead.

'We're caged in like animals here,' Blackwater retorted. 'I say we go all biblical on their ass. An eye for an eye.'

'Since when do you read the Bible?' Alec asked, raising an eyebrow. Blackwater shrugged, his bald head gleaming under the harsh lights.

'Saw it on TV.'

'Look we want to show everyone out there that we aren't dangerous. How do you think its going to look if we go put a cap in Clay's ass?' Max tried to reason.

'News flash 09er, we _are _dangerous,' Blackwater sneered and Max felt her hackles raise.

'Hey calm down alright?' There was a note of warning buried within Alec's tone and Blackwater glared at Max, holding his tongue nonetheless. 'You don't talk to your CO like that? We clear soldier?'

'Whatever,' Blackwater muttered. 'I'm going to pull our guys along the perimeter back away from the ordinaries. Won't want us walking scaring the folk.'

'You go do that,' Max shot back, not even bothering to keep her anger in check. She swept her eyes along the room, meeting each person's gaze without flinching. 'Anyone else got a problem?'

There was a ripple of sound, indecipherable to her ears. Max turned to regard Alec. 'Go check on Mole.' She didn't miss the grateful look that flittered across his hazel eyes. 'I expect a status report every hour. Dylan, go make sure we have some kind of contingency plan in place. You got an hour before I need to be briefed.'

'Yes ma'am,' Dylan said with a smirk. Max rolled her eyes. She saw Alec open his mouth as if to say something.

'Go change your shirt. Verda'll freak out if you contaminate your waiting room,' Max told him with a forced smile. Alec hesitated before nodding, giving her a jaunty salute before following Dylan down the steps. Max heaved out a sigh, catching a glimpse of Dix scrutinizing her.

'I'm not letting this go,' Max said defensively, shoving her hands into the pockets of her cargo pants. Dix gave her a wane half-smile.

'I know Max. I'm just angry, you know?'

She wondered why everyone found it so hard to believe she was too.


	3. Chapter 3

Max leaned back in the flimsy office chair behind her equally flimsy desk, the tips of her toes brushing against the concrete floor. She dragged the tip of her boots back and forth, letting the rhythm echo around the relatively quiet space. Glancing through the wire mesh bracketing her window, she could see that the cops had at least pulled back their positions. Their fingers were still lingering on the trigger though and as hard as it was to admit, Blackwater's decision to remove the transgenics from their line of sight had been a good idea.

'09er,' Max murmured under her breath. The contempt buried behind Blackwater's tone ricocheted through her skull and Max let her weight drop, her soles coming in contact with the floor with a loud _thump_. 'Stupid ass nickname.'

A quick glance at the clock told her Dylan was going to be in any minute now with a contingency plan. Max ran her fingers through her hair, combing out the tangles. It was something Lucy had done those nights Jack had thundered above them, his voice loud and dripping with booze. The pads of her fingers had been a soothing element in an otherwise chaotic and unknown world. She remembered running as fast as she could, her feet torn up and bloody as she fled from Manticore. Perhaps this could be seen the wrong way but Max was grateful for the Pulse. In a way what many saw as the ruin of mankind had been a boon to her and her siblings. Information was power and the decimation of the vast majority of the computer and communications systems following the Pulse had bought Max some breathing space to blend into the masses.

_And right now they think we're the terrorists._

The label tasted bitter on her tongue. Couldn't these people see that they were just trying to get by? That they were more than government-made super soldiers? Granted the recent publicity generated by the Jam Pony siege hadn't exactly been a public relations boon, but it hadn't been a complete nightmare either. Flippin' _Normal _had somehow been coerced over onto the dark side, Alec had joked one night. If they had been able to change Reagan Ronald's mind, there was no one they couldn't convince.

A mild scuff of a boot alerted Max to Alec's presence. Alec often walked around with a swagger, with purpose. But there was a lightness to his step, an almost predatory prowl that was barely detectable unless you had the means to locate it.

'How's Mole?' Max asked, settling her hands onto her desk and steepling them together. Alec shrugged his shoulders, slouching down into the worn couch positioned along the wall.

'Tough, leather-skinned bastard ain't dead. Verda managed to get the slugs out, knocked him out with some high-class sedatives. Give it a couple of hours before we here yelling over there,' Alec answered casually though there was no missing the relief lacing his words. 'Anything from Colonel Jackass?'

Max raised an eyebrow, looked pointedly down at the phone which remained silent.

'You really think they're gonna just give in?' Alec wondered aloud and Max ground her teeth.

'What? You want to do what Blackwater said and shoot the place up?'

'Did I say that?' Alec retorted. 'I'm just saying that we might have to go in guns blazin' Maxie.'

'Yeah well, let's hope it doesn't come to that,' Max replied shortly.

'I come at a bad time?' Dylan's voice interrupted and Max resisted giving a sigh of relief, ignored the burning stare Alec was sending her way. She waved the tall X5 inside, gesturing for him to close the door behind him.

'No call huh,' Dylan said, settling next to Alec on the couch. Max climbed to her feet, wandered over towards the window.

'Rumsfield might not be taking us seriously,' Dylan ventured cautiously. 'You know that guy hates us. No way is he going to "negotiate with terrorists" and give us what we want.'

'Not to mention the fact that you practically threatened him,' Alec murmured loud enough for her to hear. Max whipped her head around, narrowing her eyes.

'You got something to say Alec?'

'I'm saying that your idealistic worldview is all well and good when we're on the run. But right now we need to be real Max. We're outnumbered. Even factoring in our genetic empowerment, bodies are going to drop-'

'Oh so its idealistic now for me to _not _send people out to die? To even _think _that we can solve this without pumping lead into someone?' Max fired back, fisting her hands on her hips. She saw Dylan cut his gaze from one to the other, noticed Alec fold his arms across his chest.

'So the body count is acceptable if we go after one of your brothers? Is that it? Anyone else it's just tough luck that-'

'Don't you even _dare_,' Max hissed, eating away the distance between them and jabbing her finger into his chest.

'Mole almost died today,' Alec answered evenly. 'How many more of us is it going to take? They think we're fucking _terrorists _Max! So right now we're non-humans without a conscience and you just _know _their going to plaster our mugs all over the idiot box, with some kind of warning label attached. Then what?'

Max heaved out a frustrated sigh, angled her head towards Dylan. 'You agree with him?'

Dylan looked slightly uneasy as two pairs of heated eyes swung his way. Straightening his shoulders, he splayed his palms in the air.

'Look you're both right okay? Max you gave Rumsfield a deadline. So once the six hours are up, what next? Do we just sit here on our thumbs and wait? Or do we make some kind of statement?'

_Damn this glass half full crap._

'We're running out of supplies Max,' Dylan continued, lowering his voice. 'The natives are starting to get restless. When they came here they expected freedom, not this. You were the one that convinced them we should quit running, make a stand against the ordinaries.'

'Yeah I'm the great and fearless leader,' Max couldn't help but let her bitterness leak through. Huffing out a breath, Max turned back to the window. 'So you got a plan then handsome? Or are you just beauty and no brain?'

Alec stiffened at her words but neither Max or Dylan noticed.

'Well one option we might have is to take a hostage. Gives us leverage, maybe could even buy us some supplies we need,' Dylan offered.

'That's just going to stir up more heat,' Max shook her head, bit her lip. 'No, our target should be Rumsfield if this doesn't pan out. We light the fire under his ass, we can kickstart things our way,' she trailed off.

'You want to take Rumsfield hostage?' Dylan repeated slowly.

_Information is power._

The thought spun through her head like a wheel. That was it. That was what they needed. Turning towards the clock, Max saw that they under five hours to do it.

'We're going to take Rumsfield hostage,' Max announced, letting a smirk work its way over her face. 'But not in the way you think.'


	4. QLD Flood Appeal Fic Auction

Hey guys!

I live in Brisbane and if you've seen the news recently, an area the size of France and Germany combined has now been declared a disaster zone. I've decided to sign up to a fic auction that raises funds for the Queensland Relief Fund so if you're interested in bidding, please head over to and make a bid for me (look for aswordsworth or alien09)!

waltzmatildah(dot)livejournal(dot)com(forwardslash)67134(dot)html?view=1419070#t1419070

I'm taking requests for Puckleberry for Glee; Tyler/Caroline for Vampire Diaries and Chlollie for Smallville.

If you guys could spread the word, would be much appreciated!


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